


Then Perils He Will Have

by lirin



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: B2MEM 2019, Foreign Language, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Orcish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 14:30:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17982887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lirin/pseuds/lirin
Summary: Aragorn hides from some orcs during his search for Gollum.





	Then Perils He Will Have

**Author's Note:**

> For I20 (Orcish) on the "Languages of Arda" bingo card.

The hunt for Gollum had taken Aragorn closer and closer to the last place on Middle-earth that anyone should want to go. Sometimes he wondered what had possessed Gollum to make his way here; other times he wondered what had possessed himself that he should follow him this close to the Black Land. Still other times, he wondered whether he would have to sleep in the open, and whether he would find anything to eat to supplement the meager foodstuffs he carried. At the moment, he was wondering whether Master Elrond had _really_ needed to have such a firm rule against any study or mention of the tongues of the orcs—and more urgently, he was wondering whether he had been spotted by the orcs at the base of the cliff against which he was pressed, clinging to a ledge no wider than his boots. Twilight was half fallen; if he could just escape notice from this pair, he would almost surely be safe until the morning.

"Skai-ulûk ghâsh-ishi," one of the orcs said. Its speech seemed to be a complaint or grumbling of some sort, but Aragorn could make neither head nor tails of the words, which sounded like nothing he'd ever heard. When he got back to the North, he would have to ask the twins if they could teach him at least a small portion of the tongue of their enemies. They wouldn't have to have the lesson in Rivendell, if their father still objected to hearing that speech; perhaps they would want to accompany him in checking the bounds of the Shire. They were always shorthanded for that duty, now that Gandalf had requested that a closer and more continuous watch be kept.

The other orc had said something in response, but Aragorn only caught the word "sha" repeated several times. An interjection no doubt, perhaps an expletive. It could still be no more than harmless grumbling. Orcs so often spoke a crude version of Westron; why must these keep to their own tongue? Just in case, he reached behind his back and drew a knife from its sheath. He couldn't see them, but he knew from the sounds that they must be almost directly below him. If he jumped out and over—

The first orc was speaking again. "Ash tark, sha!" it muttered. "Gimbug."

It was said that much of the orcs' speech was debased and stolen from the tongues of other beings. If _tark_  was debased from the Quenya _tarkil_ , one of the names for the Dúnedain from which Aragorn's own long-ago ancestor Tarcil had taken his name— Aragorn jumped.

The orcs were further from the base of the cliff than Aragorn had taken them to be, and he landed directly on top of one of them. His outstretched knife scraped off of metal armor, but before they had even hit the ground, he had already moved his hand to stab further down, into unprotected flesh. The second, a few yards away, drew its sword and charged, but Aragorn was already moving. Even in the dark, his aim was true, and his thrown knife pierced its throat.

He dragged the bodies to lie at the base of the cliff, behind a boulder where they might escape notice for a time. But it was no longer safe to stay here, and certainly not to sleep, not when other orcs might be looking for a "tark". Aragorn wiped off his knife, returned it to its sheath, and trudged away. It would be another long night on the move.


End file.
